we have steve forbes, elizabeth macdonald, quentin hardy, and stephane fitch. >> i expect a spending tsunami in the lame duck. since president took office we have blown hole in the balance sheet size of germany. they've gotten out of control -- the fiscal maniacs. we're trying to drink ourselves sober. there are fiscal restraints that the tea party talk about and everybody is dismissive of them. we risk a downgrade to the u.s. triple-a credit rating we have had since 1913. if that happens, borrowing costs will soar. >> look at specific items that may come down the pike at us. i'll jscroll it on the screen. we look at potential and likely spending, "forbes," is that what we'll see, spending like this? >> you won't see the spending that the spendocrats want because of the election. the american mood changed profoundly. democrats survive, especially in the senate, those coming up for re-election will be scared out of their wits and they will go against the spending thing. any big spending plan will be blocked in the senate. all the desire the administration to get big bail-out for munic

let's go in focus with publisher rich karlgaard, victoria barret, stephane fitch, elizabeth macdonald. >> the problem that cuba has is the problem that u.s. has. the government is smothering the private sector. some government says the federal government isn't the problem. there is only 2 million government employees. if you look at it, 153,000 new civilian employees in the last year at a time when unemployment in the private sector is going up. $1.2 trillion deficit for the first 11 months of the year. somewhere, somehow we have to cut government or we'll strangle ourselves. >> david: i should make a point. cubans are offering the government workers another government job if they leave the one they're in now. but doesn't neil make sense? >> he does. he has got some things right. let's stop and think about this for a second. we have only 2 million federal employees. that's if you subtract out the third that are citizen soldier, department of defense, you are left with one in 230 americans have a government job. healthcare workers, 1 in 3,000. chance to get healthcare job is lower than

elizabeth macdonald is speaking with one small business ceo in new york who apparently feels this way. liz? >> reporter: hi, jenna and jon, yeah. two-thirds of the job growth in the last decade under this country came under the bush tax cuts, and we're here now, though, with the ceo of hardy soup in manhattan. he says he's worried that letting those tax cuts expire will hurt his company. what happened here when it came to job growth? >> small businesses tend to be big creators of jobs. we tripled the number of jobs over the last decade as we grew in our company, and the bush tax cuts enable us to retain more cash in the company to grow the business and open more locations and hire more people. >> reporter: over 310 economists just wrote a letter to congress yesterday saying, look, if you let the bush tax cuts expire, it'll be anti-stimulus, it'll have a damaging impact on economic growth. do you agree with that letter? >> it's completely correct, and the reason is most small and medium-sized businesses are taxed at the individual level in america. and, therefore, if the bush tax cuts

macdonald. caption colorado, l.l.c. >>> good morning. welcome back. it's tuesday, september 14. i'm sydnie kohara. >> i'm elizabeth wenger.breaking news this morning out of iran. uc-berkeley alumina sarah shourd has reportedly been released from prison. now, that's according to iran's english language state television. so far there are no further details or confirmation of shourd's release. the situation had been in limbo for several days. an attorney for shourd said her family was having trouble raising a half million dollars in bail money. just yesterday, iranian officials said shourd could be released for health reasons if that bail is paid. shourd's mother says her daughter has a lump in her breast and precancer out cervical cells. she and two others were in custody for more than a year accused of spying. again, breaking news this morning. iran's english language state television says sarah shourd has been released from prison. >>> 5:31. federal investigators finished looking at the crater from the pipeline explosion in san bruno. today, they are zeroing in on documents related to that failed pipeline. let's go to ann

macdonald. caption colorado, l.l.c. >>> good morning. it is friday, the 17th of september. welcome back, or good morning if you just peeking out from unyour covers. i'm sydnie kohara. >> still in the covers. i'm elizabethe, it is one focus of the investigation into the san bruno explosion. and our anne makovec is in san bruno to explain. good morning, good morning. >>> reporter: over pressurized lines could place major liability on pg&e. the ntsb has been busy investigating this since the explosion happened last thursday. one of several potential causes. was there a gas leak in the neighborhood prior to the explosion? was it reported to the proper authorities? were the shutoff valves functioning and accessible? what were the pressure levels in the pipe before it burst? the ntsb has visited terminals to find out how high the pressure was and they are investigating the people who worked at that terminal saying the information they are gathering is like an airplane's black box. the "mercury news" is reporting this morning pg&e has yet to reply to not lowering the pressure by 25%. there was a vigil last night for the mother and daughter killed in the explosion. people gathered at saint cecilia catholic chu